Some Things Never Go Away
by delightisadream
Summary: *next gen.* Being a teenager is hard. Everyone has inner turmoils, raging hormones, and parents who don't understand. Now throw a dash of magic powers in, and you've got hell. *indefinite hiatus*
1. Exception to Any Rule

**I got this idea some time ago, and I really love it. I especially love this first chapter of mine. I hope you guys like the characters. :)**

 **At the end of the chapter I will put in some information about the characters. Whoever's POV the chapter is in, you'll learn about that character. You the program OneNote? Well I use that to really get a visual on my characters, but I don't get to share it with anyone. So here's my solution. :) Please review! No flames, though. *prayer hands***

* * *

 **CAITLIN'S POV**

I feel like I'm going to either break down crying, or flip him off.

Quite an entrance, huh? Well, I'm Caitlin Novoa, and currently, my father is locking _his_ father into a prison cell.

Grandpa Jacob looks at his son the way a spider looks at fly in its web – and frankly, I don't like it one bit. But I still can't take my eyes off of him.

"I'm sorry, Dad, but it's–no, to be honest, I'm not all that sorry," Dad says, slamming the cell door. He doesn't grin or smirk or anything, but just hearing him say that makes me feel a bit better.

My Grandpa Jacob is not a good man. He's ruthless and sent his son to America to fulfill the Last Light plan all by himself – almost costing Dad Mom. And here he is, getting locked in a magical prison, yet he doesn't seem that upset about it. And that, in blazes, is why I don't feel so good. If Grandpa Jacob can be fine through something that's life-changing, it can't mean anything good.

He's looking at us like we've lost.

"Oh son, then don't think I'm sorry either," Grandpa Jacob tells Dad, and it kind of makes me want to punch him. Lucky for him, he's behind that magic door, and I don't have the energy to break in after three months hunting him down in Australia. I hate that stupid locator spell. For some reason, it doesn't work for me _or_ for Maddie Rueda.

"Are you sorry, Caitlin, dear?" He's called me 'Caitlin dear' since I was born. He'd seen me on rare occasions, but ever since I was seven, and knew the truth about him, he only said it more. Every time it stung. Everything he's ever told me was a lie.

I keep my eyes trained on the floor for a second, then look up at my only grandfather who knows of magic and spit, "I'm sorry you suck."

Grandpa Jacob lets out a laugh, but before he can bring up anymore childhood memories, I take a step forward. I feel Dad's hand go to my back, reminding me not to go too close. When magical beings are detained in a magical prison, their powers aren't supposed to work. But my grandpa's always been an exception to any rule he's ever met.

"I'm sorry that you turned your back on everything you knew when you were twenty-three. I'm sorry that you let your own parents die. I'm sorry that you're a soulless, cold, deceiving old wizard who's lost all of his family because of his love of power." I stare into his eyes, searching for any sign of regret. There isn't any that I can tell. "I'm sorry you can't be a better a grandfather."

If he's feeling any emotion right now, it's wiped from his face when he gazes back at me and says, "Stay strong, Caitlin. You'll need to be to survive in this world."

Now I'm not gonna lie: the fact that he didn't say 'Caitlin dear' kind of scares me. But I just take a step back and lean into my dad. He wraps one arm around me and replies to Grandpa Jacob with, "Goodbye, Dad."

He lets go of me and we prepare to tele-transport out of there. But when we try, we're still in the magical prison. "What…" Dad mumbles, whacking his hand against his leg.

"Dad, I don't think that's going to help," I whisper, glancing down at our feet.

"Caitlin," he warns, and I shut up. I close my eyes and concentrate. Maybe I said the spell wrong. My spells usually work best when I relate it to someone I know.

I try again:

 _"Like Autumn Rueda_

 _Searching for a comb_

 _Let's stop the madness_

 _And send me back home."_

I point at myself and snap, but still, nothing happens. "What the heck?" I say aloud, kicking up dust into the air. I know I said the spell right that time.

Grandpa Jacob chuckles, and applauds us with a _roaring_ slow clap of wonder. Note the sarcasm. "Jax, you _do remember_ what I taught you about magical prisons when you were six, right?"

Dad throws his arms up and yells, "Does it LOOK like I remember?!"

I glance over at Grandpa and off the top of my head recite, "'A magical prison prevents all magical forces from functioning, whether inside a cell or otherwise'." I blink and shake my head, then look at Grandpa again. "How'd you do that?"

Dad's rubbing his temples. "The rest of this prison is full of humans…We can't tele-transport outside, either."

I press my hands up against the magic door and scream, "How did you do that!"

Grandpa Jacob takes a step back and holds up his palms. "I didn't do anything, dear granddaughter. You did that yourself."

I shake my head. "No, no I didn't!"

Dad pulls me back from the door and holds me still. "Caitlin, don't get too clos–"

"He got in my head, Dad! That wasn't m–"

I'm screeching now, and a guard comes rushing in. He holds up a baton and swings, narrowly missing an antique statue of a former Chosen One. Dad and I whip our heads around and watch the man, who walks straight to Grandpa Jacob and smacks the door. "What'd you do, Novoa?" he demands, kicking the door.

Dad shoves the guard's back and waits for him to turn around. "How do we get out of here?"

The guard puts his baton away and puts his hands on his hips. "Where do you need to go?"

"Miami," I say, running a hand through my hair.

He puts a hand to his face, but tells us, "Go out that door, take a left and follow the stairs down to level two. From there, you take the fifth right, hang a left, then straight out the front doors."

"And then what?" Dad asks, waiting for more.

The guard looks at us like we're idiots. "Then you fly back to America."

Dad moans. "Fly? Come on, Caitlin. Let's go home."

He starts toward the door, but I look at the guard and ask, "Isn't there some place we can tele-transport there?"

"Not unless you want to expose the magic realm." He thinks for a second, then kicks the magic door again, shaking up my grandpa some more. "You _don't_ , do you?"

"But that flight's, like, fourteen hours," I explain, walking towards the guy. "I've already missed three months of school, and I really don't want to go on that long plane ride."

Dad grabs my wrist and tries to take me out the door. "Caitlin, let's just go."

I shake free and wait for the man's response. All he does is cross his arms and tell me, "In a magic prison, no magic forces work ANYWHERE, not just in a ce–"

I roll my eyes and cut him off. "Yeah, yeah, it's _in my head."_ I glance at my grandfather as I say this, but when he waves at me in a friendly manner, I've had enough.

I spin on my heel and exit the room before my dad.

* * *

On the plane, just a mere _three hours later…_

I'm tapping my fingernails on the window, trying to recite the alphabet backwards in my head. That's how bored I am.

"Cait," Dad pokes my leg, nodding to a woman across the aisle from us. "Can you switch seats with me? That lady keeps eyeing me up," he whispers.

I roll my eyes, but maneuver around until he has the window seat and I'm stuck in the aisle. I close my eyes and try to imagine myself in my bed at home for a second, but after that fails, I stand and reach into the compartment above my head, taking my earbuds out of my purse. As I'm closing the compartment, I realize that everyone around me is watching. I glance at them, and dangle my earbuds in the air. Sometimes people just bother me.

Once I make myself comfortable again, and hear enough of Dad's conversation with Mom over the phone to know that she and Dustin aren't worried, I sink down low in my seat and rest my knees against the seat in front of me. Plugging my earbuds into my phone, I go to the Iridium High blog app and open it, sighing.

Since I've been gone three months, as Grandpa Jacob is apparently a VERY good hider, I might as well take these fourteen hours of boring and catch up on what's happened in school so far.

Most of the articles don't interest me, and I only read the ones that Erin Rueda actually had to write – there's a significant difference from most of them, and that is the fact that you can tell she's not into this at all.

Erin is the only daughter of Gigi Rueda and Sebastian (I think Mom mentioned his last name once, but I know he was Gigi's camera guy in high school), therefore, expected to be Iridium High's current vlogger; better known as the annoying gossip column.

The only thing is, she doesn't care about that stuff. Of course, she's also convinced that's all her mom cares about, so Autumn Rueda (Maddie and Diego Rueda's daughter, who's a Kanay-witch) made a clone of her specifically for vlogging purposes. But like anything else in this _great_ world, that doesn't work every time, and she does end up doing some of the vlogging/blogging herself.

I almost snort when I read this one line she wrote about the Sharks: Reese Miller may be on the ball twenty-four seven, but he's not fast enough to out swim Gia Van Pelt – records say his fastest swim is five minutes and twenty seconds, while Gia's is exactly seventy-eight seconds. Reese claims there was pizza on the other side of the pool, hence it being unfair, but he's just butthurt Gia has better abs than him.

I love Reese to death, just like anyone else, but in all honesty, he's just a beanstalk who can freeze and/or set people on fire in an instant. Not really swimmer material.

That's right. He got his mother Mia's Kanay gene, but he doesn't generally use it. I don't understand that at all, but then again, I don't have to. My powers aren't going anywhere, so I won't have to worry about living that lifestyle.

A flight attendant starts with the regular speech, about how we're about to be taking off, and everything needs to be set to Airplane Mode, blah blah blah blah blah…

I groan and swipe upward, when I get a notification. It's a text from Dustin.

 **Hey sis, did you take off yet? Well if you don't get this, then I guess I'll know. XD Mom & I miss you and Dad, and I'll fill you in on everything when you get home. **

Another flight attendant goes by me, and must have been creeping on my phone, because she bends down and tells me, "Miss, you need to turn your phone onto Airplane Mode."

"I know, that's what I'm doing ri–" I start, but I get another notification.

 **Oh, but one thing: Reese and Seth are at the center of attention rn cuz–**

"Miss–"

"Alright, already," I hiss, switching to Airplane Mode and straightening up in my chair. I fake smile at the lady until she goes away, then sigh.

Whatever reason Reese and Seth Miller are at the center of attention could wait until I got off the plane, I guess.

I glance around at my fellow passengers, and sidle down low into my seat, ready to fall asleep. And I could, if five women weren't turning around in their seats to stare at my Dad.

"He's married!" I exclaim, glaring at them. They frown and sit back down.

* * *

As soon as Dad and I step up to the front porch of our house, I instantly feel better.

After we got off the plane, we had to frantically search for an abandoned alley in Miami. Not only did we look like two lost foreigners, but at least three people offered their money to us. Dad actually took some, but he's always been interesting. Once we found an alley, we walked for ten minutes, then tele-transported back home.

By the time we actually got to our front porch, I looked disgusting.

"Oh my gosh, I look like a hobo," I groan, wiping my pants off, my lip curled up.

Dad nods slightly. "It's been a long time. But at least you can't see what your hair looks like right now."

My hands fly to my hair.

He chuckles, patting my back. "Calm down, kiddo, that's an easy fix." He's still laughing as he puts the key into the door and turns it.

We step inside, and I drop to the floor to rip off the sneakers I've been wearing for three months. Even your favorite shoes get to be a bother after you wear them too long.

Mom hears us and calls, "Jax?" I hear her sandals slapping against the floor until she reaches the hallway, a huge grin spreading from ear to ear. "Jax!" She runs to her husband and he wraps his arms around her, lifting her up and spinning her around.

I roll my eyes. "Mom."

Dad puts her down and she gasps. "Caitlin, ah, you look older!" She squeezes me and I squeeze back.

"I've missed you," I barely breathe.

Mom lets me go and holds my shoulders, her eyes running over me quickly. "Oh gosh, just seeing you like this makes me feel like a terrible mother."

"Do I really look that bad?!"

Mom takes a step back and forces a smile, shaking her head. She says, "No, of course not," the same time Dad says, "Absolutely."

"Jax!" she scolds him, slapping his chest.

He throws up his hands. "Hey, it's better she knows before she runs off and sees her friends."

"I'm too tired, anyway," I mumble, leaning my hip against the back of the couch and running a hand through my hair. "Where's Dustin?"

Mom shrugs. "I have no idea. I thought he was scrapbooking…"

I can tell she really wants to talk to Dad, and it's just as well, because all I want to do is check in with Dustin and go to sleep for a few years.

I walk down the hallway, going to his bedroom. He's not there. Sighing, I leave and fall into my open door. I glance around, but Dustin's nowhere to be found. Moaning, I flop onto my bed and just breathe for a few seconds. It feels nice and reminds me that it's over. Grandpa Jacob is taken care of, and I can stop searching now.

The only reason Dustin and Mom didn't come with us is because, A) Mom didn't really want to deal with that, as she's generally a pretty sweet person and just thinking about her father-in-law changes her whole demeanor, and B) my dad took Dustin to Australia when he was seven and I was too young, staying home with Mom. I'm not complaining, but I don't know. It would have been nice to be in Australia with my family. Maybe we could have pretended we were on vacation at one point.

I'm about to drift off to sleep when I hear, "Someone's tired," from behind me.

I shriek and do a 180 on my bed, eventually facing my brother. My frown turns into a smirk as I cast a spell to make horns appear on his head. I laugh, letting my head back down onto my bed.

Dustin's eyebrows crinkle. "What?" He tries to look up and fails, so he turns to the wall mirror behind him. I hear him groan, and that's when I close my eyes.

"Very funny, sis, very funny."

"Thank you," I grin, trying to make myself comfortable. I lay my arms on top of my stomach to keep myself warm, as I'm too lazy to climb under the covers.

"How was the douchebag?" he asks, and I don't even have to think about what he means.

"Locked up. I don't ever want to see him again."

Dustin sighs, taking a seat on my bed. "I get how you feel. You know how he used to ruffle my hair? When you were, like, four?"

I position myself so I can lean on my arm, and nod my head.

"When I first found out about him, I told Mom I felt like the Devil was within me."

I laugh. "Really? What'd she say?"

He shrugs, folding his hands in his lap. "I don't know – something along the lines of 'that's not far off', I think."

I lift one corner of my mouth up. "She's right."

He nods, and I can tell that, like me, even though he hates Grandpa Jacob, the pain is still there. "Um…Did you get my texts yesterday?"

I shut my eyes. "Shit, I forgot. The flight attendant was right there, and she wasn't leaving me alone an–"

"Whoa, Cait, it's cool," he tells me, holding out his hands in a 'stop' motion. "I can just tell you now anyway."

I push my body upward to look at him better. "Tell me what?"

"Well, Seth is, like, the heartthrob of Iridium right now."

I stare. "Hasn't he always had a harem anyway?"

He stares back at me. "Hi, I'm Dustin. I'm straight and do not choose to watch how other people obsessively fawn over the fellow males."

I smile. "Not what I meant."

"Yeah, I gotcha. But Erin – well, Erin's _clone_ – has been going crazy over him, and he didn't even change anything about himself. I mean, is this a girl thing, or do I just not get it?"

"I don't know. Do you have a recent picture of him?"

Dustin takes out his phone and shows me the two of them taking a selfie together in the boys' restroom.

I smile. _I really want to ask why._ Instead, I shake my head and say, "His hair looks better, his smile is more infectious, and, in guy terms, he's hot."

Dustin sticks a finger into his mouth. "Gross."

"Oh, but Nevaeh's not gross, now is she?" I grin, catching him off guard. Nevaeh Johnson, Sophie Johnson and Beau the lizard's daughter, has this . . . _thing_ going on with my brother. I don't want to explain it as a fling, but there's not many other words to describe what they have.

His goofy smile is all I need to see to prove my point. "That's different."

"If you won't admit it get out," I joke, pointing to the door.

"Cait–"

I stand and push him toward the door. "Nope, I'm tired. Leave."

"Wait, I haven't told you about Reese!"

"Bye!" I throw him out and shut the door, leaning against it and sighing.

Suddenly I feel a lot like my mother in some way.

* * *

When I get to my locker the next day at school (for the first time in THREE MONTHS), I hear snoring. I hold up my left hand and undo my lock with the other, ready in case there's a–

Gia in my locker.

Honestly, I'm not even surprised. I let my hand drop to my side, grabbing her arms and tearing her out of my locker. She doesn't even wake up until she's standing. "Gia!" I yell.

I can tell she's just now coming out of her sleeping state. "Hi Caitlin." She lets her eyes adjust. "Caitlin!" Gia wraps her arms around my neck, nearly throttling me.

"Hey girl!" I exclaim, grabbing her waist and trying to push her farther away from me.

She giggles, letting go and fluffing out her hair. "I've missed you! Oh my gosh!" Her eyes light up as she leans in and whispers, "How's your grandfather?"

I pull back and tell her, "It's taken care of."

Either my eyes glassed over or she just knows me too well, because Gia wasn't having that. "Uh-huh. Well, I'm here if you need me."

She doesn't even understand how much that means to me.

We start toward the office, which is where I need to go as school started while I was gone. As we fall into step with each other, I ask, "So you wanna tell me _why_ you were in my locker?"

I laugh with her. One of the many things I love about Gia is that she's always happy. Her eyes are always full of joy. "Oh! Yesterday, Autumn, Erin, and I were messing around with A's magic and, uh…she accidentally put me in your locker and didn't notice."

I cover my mouth. "How does she not notice that?"

"I don't know. The Maddie gene?" she jokes and we giggle. All of us love Maddie, but she can be a little dimwitted.

"Sounds possible."

Just then I note that Reese just came down this hallway. "Hey, Reese!" I say, guiding Gia along with me to the oldest Miller son. "What's up?"

He looks down at me and grins. "Not you. You still haven't grown, young lady. Shouldn't three months be enough?"

I smirk, and punch him in the shoulder. "Oh, so you did know I was gone, ya big dummy."

Reese pulls me into a hug and breathes. "We all did. I hope everything's okay."

Okay, first off, my face is literally buried in his chest and he can't have any way of knowing what my expression is. Either Gia gave me away or he just realizes that I probably don't want to talk about this. But by this point, I'm kind of done with lying so much.

He releases me and takes a step back, acknowledging his error. "Oh wow, Cait, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinkin–"

"No, no, it's fine, I…" And I'm kind of done with pretending like everything is cool already. "So, how are the Sharks?"

Reese presses his lips together and puts a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry." Then he rushes past us.

I'm staring after. "What the hell was that?"

Gia inches closer to me. "Uh, yeah. Reese kind of–"

"CAITLIN NOVOA, PLEASE REPORT DIRECTLY TO THE OFFICE. CAITLIN NOVOA, TO THE OFFICE," my other grandfather, Francisco Alonso, calls over the intercom.

I look at Gia, and as soon as we lock eyes we burst out laughing. "You better get to that office," she tells me, arms wrapped around her stomach.

I nod, giving her a thumbs up. "Hope we have classes!" I yell, running toward the office.

"Same!"

I fling open the office door to see a strict man staring at me, in my only likable grandpa-principal's desk chair.

"Um, I'm sorry. I," I stutter, pointing my thumb to the door behind me. "I was…You're not Principal Alonso." Why is it that the first thing you say is so obvious? Why?

The man, eyebrows bushy and hands clasped tightly on the desk, cracks a smile. "I know. But I like your grandpa a LOT, missy. A lot."

I draw my eyebrows together, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. "Excuse me?"

He stands up and twirls his finger at himself, looking like a fairy godmother in the process – and quite frankly, it scares me.

Until the 'man' changes to Ursula Van Pelt, Phillip (Gia's father) and Maddie's mother.

"Ursula!" I scream, jumping to hug her.

"Hi Caitlin!" she screams back, jumping with me.

I let go, holding her at arm's-length, and examine my best friend's grandmother. "Wait, how did–my mom?"

She nods. "We made a deal quite awhile back that when she got strong enough, she'd give me powers!"

I squeal. "You have powers!"

"I have powers!" Ursula smiles, pulling me in for another hug. "Oh, and it's Vice Principal Van Pelt now."

"What?"

I hear a door open near us, so we let go. I turn and see my grandpa.

"Ah, thank you, Ursula, for letting her in," he thanks her, nodding in her direction.

She grins at him, then winks at me when he's not looking.

"So, Caitlin, how was Mr. Novoa? Did you and Jax have a good time in Australia?" Grandpa Francisco asks me, holding out a hand for me to squeeze. And I do.

Okay, so maybe I'm not quite done with lying about this.

Here's the thing. When you only have one human grandparent, and literally EVERYONE else in your family knows of magic, you don't really know what to do. You always have to lie, which is more painful for the liar than the person getting lied _to._ When you think about it, the person getting told the lie has no idea it's not the truth, therefore, they're blissfully unaware.

I nod. "He's healthy and better than ever." _Now that he's in a magic prison._ "Dad and I had a great time in Australia." _Tracking down his father to ultimately detain him._

Believe it or not, that's how I keep myself sane through all of the lies I have had to tell to my favorite grandfather.

He nods, smiling at me. "That's good to know. Tell your parents that I'll be calling soon. I want to see if we can go out to eat sometime this week."

It's a pleasure to be able to grin and say, "That'd be great, Grandpa."

Grandpa Francisco mirrors my expression before handing me a sheet of paper. "Here is your class schedule. Now, I know it's short notice, but you've always been pretty good at memorizing things, now haven't you?"

I almost laugh. Of course I memorize things quickly. I got a mixture of my parents when it comes to schoolwork: I don't want to cheat, but I also don't want to study. So, I cast spells while I'm at home to memorize everything for the test so I don't have to study. Yes, it is technically still cheating, but I'm not casting spells during school to write the answers for myself, now am I?

"Yep, that's right, Grandpa Francisco–er, Principal Alonso," I correct myself, smiling at him.

"You better get going, kiddo. Class is about to start," Ursula tells me, shooing me towards the door.

I lean in to whisper to her as I'm leaving. "Don't put too many moves on my grandpa."

She just giggles, letting me out the door.

Outside in the hallway, I see Buxton Rice passing by. "Buck!" I holler, flying down the hall to catch up with him.

When I reach him, I slam into his chest, almost knocking us both to the ground.

"Whoa, Little Rocket! Don't kill me already! It's your first day," he comments, holding me steady until my feet actually find the right spots.

I laugh, letting my bangs cover some of my eyes. "Sorry. I just, I don't even know, I saw you and was like, 'Hey, that's Buck', so I–"

"Tackled me?" he jokes, holding an English book in one hand at his side.

"Yes," I snicker.

Buck takes in what's in my hand and his eyes widen. "Heeey, is this your schedule?"

He reaches for it, and I pull it back. "No, no, Buck, I just got this and I really need it!"

He grabs it out of my hands anyway and looks it over, turning away from me so I can't reach it. "Ahh, so you're in choir _and_ drama this year, huh?"

I stop failing to get it back and ask, "What? I never signed up for choir."

Buck looks down at the paper, then back up at me. "You have Honors English, room 203 first period?"

I get tired and begin a spell:

 _"Buck's bothering me_

 _And I need that paper back_

 _So make it appear in my hands_

 _As easy as that."_

I _can_ cast spells in my head, but sometimes I just prefer to say them aloud. You know, when it's not life-or-death.

It materializes in my hands and I sigh as we start for the stairs to the second floor. "I guess. I never actually got to look at my paper." I send him a look, to which he just smiles. That's just how Buck is.

Just like his dad.

"Well, Honors English rocks. So you're in good hands."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever you say, Buxton."

"Oh, don't even do that. I hate that."

"No, you don't hate it. You just _prefer_ Buck," I correct him. I tilt my head and try to make him annoyed.

He sends me a look. "I think I know what I hate and what I don't."

"And you DON'T hate me."

Buck just smiles. "Ehhhh."

I jab him in the ribs with my elbow. "Don't start."

I see room 203, and we enter.

"There's no assigned seats," Buck tells me, taking a seat behind this girl, Lexi Deen. I've seen her a few times.

I shrug and walk to the front right desk. I like being in the front. Thanks, Mom.

As I'm sitting down, I hear the door swing shut, and for the first time I look up and see Katie Rice as a teacher. Whoa.

"Good morning," she starts the class off, walking to her desk. She jiggles the mouse to her computer, then faces us. I look around at my classmates, and not one person looks excited.

 _Oh, please tell me this class doesn't suck. Buck told me it rock–_

 _Of course he did, that's his mother!_

* * *

When I get home, Mom and Dad are making out on the living room couch.

"UGH, WHY?" I yell, covering my eyes and cautiously entering the room.

They break away and Mom giggles, pushing her hair behind her ear. "Sorry, sweetie. We haven't seen each other in three months."

"And I haven't seen anyone but Dad and Grandpa in three months, yet you don't see me making out with any guy I see, now do you?" I retort, walking to the fridge and opening it, grabbing the milk.

Dustin enters the house after me. "You left the door open again!" he announces, pointing at the door.

Mom stands and follows me into the kitchen. "Yeah, don't do that. Someone might see us doing magic if you leave the door open a lot."

"Sorry," I say, searching for cereal and a bowl. Maybe a spoon, too.

"Dustin, close the front door," Dad calls to my brother, who's leaving the room.

"Oops, I'm already uh, yeah, sorry Dad," Dustin keeps getting quieter as her walks further down the hall. I roll my eyes. Sometimes it doesn't even feel like he's the older one of us two.

Dad sighs and casts a spell at the door, then back where Dustin went.

"DEAR LORD!"

Mom spins around to look at her husband. "What'd you do to him?"

Dad shrugs. "Atomic wedgie."

"Jax!" Mom shrieks. "You can't just do that to our son!"

"Well Andi's not here and I can't do it myself, so a spell was the best way to go!" Dad responds, trying to prove his point.

I lay out the milk, cereal, bowl, and spoon on the kitchen table. "Grandpa Francisco is gonna call soon. He wants to meet up for dinner sometime this week."

Mom smiles. "Yay! I could really stand to see my dad soon."

"Speaking of your dad, does he still hate Daniel?" Dad asks, flipping his phone around in his hands.

"Of course he does. Why?"

"Daniel just texted me asking." Dad regains control of his phone and is about to reply to Daniel when Mom casts a spell, and his phone flies into her hands. "Em!"

"You can't just tell him that! It'll sound rude."

Dad scoffs. "It's not like he doesn't already know. He just wanted to ask, cuz there's a swim meet tonight and he heard Francisco might be there. He's a little nervous."

"I'd be too, from the stories you've told me about him," I put in, shaking out the cereal into the bowl. I finish that and move on to the milk.

Dad laughs. "True. Your grandpa hates him so bad."

"I wish he didn't," Mom groans. "It was bad enough when I was dating him, but somehow it's even worse now that we're adults."

"Why don't you just tell Grandpa Francisco about magic?"

Both my parents stare at me like I have three heads.

"What?" I question, putting the milk away.

"You heard what you just said, right, Caitlin?" Mom asks me, coming closer. "Do you have a fever?"

"No." I pick up the cereal and turn away from my mother. "Why is that such a big secret, anyway? Almost everyone knows already. All of your friends…all of my friends…"

"Not all of them," Dad says. "And you know that it's better for your grandpa if he _doesn't_ know about magic. That way he's not in any danger of being used to trick the Chosen One."

Mom groans. "That principal was screwy and I was fifteen, okay!"

I shake my head, picking up my bowl and dropping the spoon into it. "I still don't see the big deal. Wouldn't it help him if he knew? Then you wouldn't have to keep lying to him."

They don't say anything.

I press my lips together and moan. "You're just too in love to tell the truth."

* * *

 **NAME: Caitlin Liana Maria Novoa**

 **NICKNAME: Cait (everyone) C (Reese) Catty (Dustin) Caitlin dear (Jacob) Little Rocket (Buck)**

 **BIRTHDAY: September 23**

 **AGE: 16**

 **EYES: brown**

 **HAIR: medium-length black (curled or straight) w/ eyebrow-length bangs**

 **HEIGHT: 5'3**

 **She's a witch.**

 **Andi's her Guardian.**

 **Pronounces 'aunt' like 'AWN-T'.**

 **Can do a perfect Australian accent, but she generally doesn't speak with it.**

 **Jax wanted to show her Australia, and they needed to put Jacob behind bars. (He and Emma make various trips there all the time, and he took Dustin when he was 7, but Caitlin was too young and stayed with Emma.)**

 **She's on the Yearbook Committee, as scrapbooking is now a family love.**

 **She and Autumn have a special connection, but she and Gia are best friends.**

* * *

 **Do you guys like that? Cuz I really enjoy it. :D Review! :P  
**


	2. Repetitive

**Gahhh, I SUCK! I am so so so sorry guys! I've had this chapter finished for over two weeks (don't kill me yet!) but I didn't want to upload it with the next one unfinished. Also, from Thursday, June 11 through last night I didn't have wifi. :/ Through all that excitement of having internet connection, I forgot to upload. Yikes! I don't want to give you super lengthy times between updates, which is why I'm so sorry about this. Good thing is I really want to get a start on chapter five soon because it's going to be a lot of fun. :)**

 **If any of you (aka all, aha) are confused about the characters and who their parents are, here we go:**

 **Emma + Jax = Dustin Novoa & Caitlin Novoa**

 **Daniel & Mia = Reese Miller & Seth Miller**

 **Maddie & Diego = Autumn Rueda**

 **Andi & Phillip = Gia Van Pelt**

 **Sophie + Beau (lizard-turned-boy in season 1; I revived him) = Nevaeh Johnson (Beau's a lizard. No last name.)**

 **Gigi + Sebastian = Erin Rueda (I imagine Gigi being very demanding and making Sebastian take her last name, plus Sebastian's last name is Camera Guy, so...XD)**

 **Katie + Oliver Samuels = Buxtion "Buck" Rice (Oliver isn't here...take your guess as to why, but it'll be explained over time)**

 **So there we go!**

* * *

 **REESE'S POV**

"What are you doing in here?"

I walk into my parents' bedroom to find Seth rummaging around in their bedside dresser's drawers.

He glances up at me, then continues to search. "My goggles are too tight now, and Dad said he had a pair in here that I could use until they get a chance to buy me new ones." He looks up at me again. "Why are _you_ here?"

I contemplate just leaving, but I don't really have a choice. The bag in my hand feels lighter than usual, and I need to fix that. Fast. "No reason," I mumble, going around the bed to Mom's vanity.

I hear my brother groan deeply. "Reese, don't keep doing this."

"I have to."

"No, no you don't." I turn around to face him. "You don't have to keep stealing Mom's makeup before a meet. Dad would understand."

I roll my eyes and go back to dropping makeup products into my bag. "He wouldn't and you know that."

"Whether he would or not, why can't you just tell Mom? I heard her complaining the other day about her makeup getting low." I hear one drawer close and another open. "How much have you been using, anyway?"

I finish filling up my bag and shut all of my mother's small makeup compartments and drawers. "Not _that_ much. I'm trying to space it out. Besides, it's only for swim meets."

"That doesn't make it better, dude."

"Don't lecture me. I'm older," I warn maneuvering my way out of the room.

"What the fuck does that have to do with anything?" Seth asks, shutting the current drawer he had open, holding up a pair of goggles.

I stop at the door, ready to go. "Just hurry up. I want to get this over with."

As I start down the hallway for the kitchen, I hear him following me. "Hey, quick question," he begins, stopping me by putting a hand on my shoulder and twisting me to look at him. "Were you the one who cancelled five of our swim meets in the school's computer?"

I pretend to think for a moment. "I don't know. Was the computer half frozen when you found it?" One of the perks of being half-Kanay is that I can freeze anything and get away with it. Everyone knows I don't use my powers often, so they shouldn't suspect me at all.

"Yeah."

I shrug. "Then I have no idea," I say and pick up my pace.

I hear him grumbling from behind me, but try to ignore it. I don't need his disapproval right now. I just want to get through this swim meet without any speed bumps.

* * *

A few minutes later my family is in our car, Seth and I in the backseat. I keep my eyes trained on the window; trying to ignore the prompting looks my brother's giving me.

No matter what he tries to tell me, Dad would NOT understand, much less _approve._

"So how's the team coming this year?" Dad asks, glancing at us in the rearview mirror.

I fiddle my thumbs around, keeping my gaze away from my father. "Pretty good."

"Are you guys ready for the meet?"

"Yeah, I think we're gonna do really well," Seth answers, nodding.

"Is Dustin a good captain?"

Seth darts his eyes at me, then leans his head back into his the seat and says, "He's fine. Better than I would be."

"Hey! Millers are known to be excellent captains," Dad defends our honor.

Mom scoffs. "Not when you have a Kanay spider seal on, you're not."

He glances at her. "Mia, I didn't _want_ to be like that."

"Technically, you did." Mom cracks her knuckles and I can hear it from back here. "I really need to get that book from Diego to show you."

Before anyone can ask any more Shark-related questions, I pull out my phone and plug in my earbuds, pressing them into my ears. I can see Seth looking at me, but all I care about it getting out of any and all conversations.

* * *

"Reese, don't do this," Gia warns me.

I roll my eyes and finish making my face look a light – but sickly – green, and shove my mom's makeup back into my bag.

I step out from the safety behind the bleachers and cross the painted on pool depth signs, walking right over to Dustin, arms wrapped around my stomach. "Bro, I don't feel too good."

He, who was halfway through taking off his shirt, turns his head around to look at me with a disappointed look. "I can't even handle your crap anymore, man."

I shrug, and hit him on the back. "Here comes my dad. Tell him I'm puking." I wink as he groans, and jog towards the inside of the school. I hit the slick floor barefoot, and leisurely walk the rest of the way to the locker rooms. Once I reach them, I turn left instead of right and go into the girls' locker room.

I've got this routine down pat.

Dad could come and look for me in the boys' locker room, so since it's empty, the girls' is the way to go.

I walk in and sigh. This is nowhere NEAR the first time I've been in here, and I can understand why others don't agree with what I'm doing. But this is my decision, and I deserve to be myself.

I saunter over to a bench and take a seat, stretching out my long legs. I'm nearly as tall as my dad. Strange, I know. After feeling some stress removed from my body, I stand up and go to the sink to get this gunk off my face. _Should've brought the bag with you, Reese,_ my mind tells me.

I rinse off my face and look at my reflection, my hazel eyes staring back at me. They look irritated. I _feel_ irritated.

Why does Dad have to care so much about stupid things?

I let myself drop to the hard floor and sit there, thinking. I have a serious point. My dad originally didn't like magic – causing him to lose not one, but TWO witch girlfriends. Of course it all ended well – he has Mom – but I seriously doubt he's jealous that everyone in our house has magic except him.

That is one thing that I will never ever understand about my father. Who doesn't like magic? He claims it is because he hates cheating, and magic is 'considered' (in his opinion) cheating. I prefer to think of it as an easy A.

But even though I'm cool with magic and think it's amazing, I don't use my Kanay powers often. I know I'm lucky to even _know_ of magic, let alone have it, but I just don't see the point in needing to use it 24/7. (This makes me wonder how I would feel about this if Mom married Jax Novoa.)

Even so, Dad doesn't make complete sense to me. And he most likely never will.

I pull myself out of my thoughts long enough to hear footsteps. I look up in time to see Gia stalk into the room and smack me across the face.

My hand goes to my cheek, a look of shock appearing. "What was THAT?!"

She squints at me, squatting down to my current position. "So you're a pathetic little liar, _and_ a wimp?" She shakes her head. "Maybe you should get that checked out."

"Gia, what are you doing in here?"

An awkward look crosses her features for a moment as she stares at me. "You know it's really sad that you being in the girls' locker room is a regular thing, Reese. That's just not right."

"I am so _done_ with all of you telling me I need to stop. If I don't want to tell my dad, I won't," I complain, exasperated already.

Gia throws her arms out. "You honestly don't think he would understand? Because he would! It's not that big of a deal, dude!"

I narrow my eyes and snort. "Do you even KNOW my dad?"

"Look, I don't WANT to know your dad." She holds her head in her hands for a second, then grabs my arms and looks me in the eyes. "Just listen to me. You're never going to feel completely fine with your decision if you don't tell _someone._ At least tell your mom. Mia rocks, and honestly wouldn't give a shit about this. You have to know that."

I sigh. "Gia…"

She lets go of my arms, bouncing back to her feet. "Just think about, okay? Please?" She starts for the door. "I gotta go – it's my turn. Yours would've passed by now…" Gia gives me one more look before leaving me alone.

How come everyone gets to be so sure that Dad won't care, yet I am given the ability to worry and deceive him? Why?

* * *

 **THIRD PERSON**

The cement is wet from both teams climbing in and out of the pool.

"No, Buck, STOP SPLASHING HIM! DUDE!" Dustin hollers, blowing the whistle that's hung around his neck.

Seth comes up behind him. "Why is he still doing that," he groans, frowning when Buck lifts his head up from the water with a smile on his face.

Dustin shuts his eyes and sighs. "I don't know. But if he keeps it up, we're not gonna make it too far this year." As captain, he wants to guide his teammates to his best ability. But with Buck being so…himself, he's not entirely sure how to handle it.

They hear flip flops slapping against the cement as someone races towards the duo.

"Is it my turn yet?" Gia asks, fingers crossed. She's slightly red in the face from running from the locker room.

Dustin shakes his head. "Nah, you're good." She lets out a breath. "I can tell that the Eels' coach is gonna want a chat with me because of Buck," he moans, giving a slight nod in the direction of their opponents.

Gia swivels to see Buck go into the lane beside him and slow his opponent down. She cringes. "I'm surprised he made it this far, to be honest. Usually he's kicked out by now."

Seth glances at her after scanning his surroundings. "Where's Reese?"

She gazes back, her expression reading tired. "Where do you think?"

He groans, letting his head drop. "Dustin, send Buck in if my turn's coming up." He maneuvers his way around the two and starts down the wet cement.

"Gotcha," Dustin nods, half-listening. He's massaging his temples like it's his job.

"You should be a masseur," Gia comments, watching him.

"If he keeps this up, I will be."

* * *

 **REESE'S POV**

I'm on my feet, deciding to clean up the locker room. It's provided me safety – for the most part – so I feel I should return the favor as much as I can.

In the showers, some shampoo and the occasional shaving cream is left on the wall, as the shower head doesn't move. I glance at the open door and deem it safe. I pound my left fist into my right hand and make is rain where the shower water won't go. Things look pretty shiny when I'm done.

As I move onto the next shower, I hear feet. I freeze (ha: Kanay pun) and don't move until I hear the voice.

Honestly, I wish Mom came in instead.

"Reese!"

I think about letting my stance drop, but I turn to face him with my hands together; just to show him I'm not afraid to do anything drastic. "Yes?"

Seth's not amused. He puts his hands into the same position and blows a cold wind at me, making me stumble backwards a bit.

"Hey!" I exclaim, reaching around to adjust my shirt.

"I am _sick_ of your crap, okay? I don't know why this bothers me so much, but it does. Just tell Dad, or I will."

I give him a look. "No, you won't." I punch my hands together again and give him a quick brain freeze, then undo it so he's not repetitive. Mom had to fix that once. "Seth, leave. Just get out."

"You get out there. I'm serious about telling Dad," he tells me, flipping a piece of hair out of his eyes.

I gape. "Wh-how do you remember that? I just–"

He shakes it off. "Apparently it doesn't work on me. I figured that out because I once heard Mom and Dad in bed, so Mom tried it out on me because she didn't want me to have nightmares." His eyes are wide as he tells me, "Trust me, I've had nightmares."

I shudder, but get back to the problem at hand. "You're still not telling Dad."

"Yeah, I am."

I groan, walking to the wall and smacking it. "Seth, come on. We're brothers. You can't possibly tell me that you've never kept a secret from our parents."

He shrugs. "Nothing really big that has been continuous for OVER A YEAR, REESE."

"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?"

"TELL. DAD."

I shake my head. "I'll tell him if you can explain to me why Dad would understand."

He's silent. I don't even think he's trying to come up with a reason, because he wouldn't find one.

"My point exactly." I put my hands out to my sides and shove past him.

I am so done with this place.

* * *

The next morning passes in a blur.

Eat the breakfast Mom made for me – avoid any Shark-related questions by gulping down my food in three minutes, acting like I haven't eaten in a week.

Let Dad drop me off at school on his way to his bicycle rental shop – avoid any Shark-related questions by pretending to doze off with my face slammed against the passenger window.

Get books from my locker, which is next to Seth's – avoid any Shark-related questions by slamming a book shut in his face and warning him to shut up.

Finish my morning classes with my friends – avoid any Shark-related questions by pretending to be so damn absorbed in school that I can't focus on anything else.

Next is lunch. I have it with the majority of my friends, which seriously isn't good.

Seth is staring at me as soon as I enter, so I walk straight past him and jump into the lunch line. Buck notices me behind him and grins, turning so he can talk to me. "Hey. Did you see me compete yesterday?"

I smile a little. "No. Beat anyone up?"

"No, I'm not to that level yet," he assures me, laughing. "I just splashed this dude in the face the whole time; I even went into his lane–"

I'm laughing when I hear someone clear their throat behind me.

Buck slowly shuts his mouth and awkwardly faces forward. I hear him mutter, "When has this line _ever_ been this slow?"

I agree.

Sighing, I turn around to see Dustin glaring at me. "Yeah?" I ask, crossing my arms nonchalantly.

He smacks my arm.

I smack his arm back. "What was that for?" I ask, trying not to show that I'm in pain. Jax is very buff – I know; Diego's always telling me – so of course his son is too. My dad works out in a gym called Little Michelle's.

"Tell Daniel," he says, eyes boring holes into me.

I try to imitate him, but the wizard is better at such things. "I won't."

"Tell. Daniel." That's all Dustin's giving me – nothing more, nothing less.

"Dust–You know, I'm feeling pretty sick." I clutch my stomach and head for the halls. I hear Dustin start grumbling to Buck, and I can't really blame him. This routine is getting pretty old.

Just then my routine becomes new.

I nearly run over the Panthers on their way to the cafeteria.

"Whoa!" I say, stopping before I fall on top of Erin and Autumn. Nevaeh's a safe distance away from my stumbling feet.

Autumn clutches her books, stepping backward. Erin gets closer and lays a hand on my shoulder. There's not much of an effect, as she's two inches shorter than me. "Now, Reese. That trick you pulled yesterday was really wussy of you."

I shrug her hand off and roll my eyes. "Thanks, Erin. How's your life going?" I tilt my head and make sure my voice drips sarcasm.

She grins. "Fine. I bet your dad's is real _swell_ right about now, huh?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm not going to ruin it. Now lay off."

Autumn shakes her head. "Reese, just tell your dad. My parents know mostly everything about me."

I narrow my eyes and scoff. "Just shut it, Miss Priss. Not all of us have a perfect life."

She looks down, and I feel kind of bad.

I go around them, but Nevaeh catches up with me. "I'm not even going to mention how harsh you were back there, but I think you need to calm down and think of happy things."

I'm pretty sure she continued, but I leave her in a cloud of dust.

I want everyone to completely forget I was ever a Shark.

* * *

I walk home with Gia today. Yes, it's a bad decision, but we generally walk together, so what was I supposed to do?

"So how'd your dad take the news?" she innocently questions, switching shoulders and slinging her bag over the other.

Oh yeah. Anything else.

I train my eyes on the road in front of me and kick a rock, silence engulfing the two of us.

Gia sighs loudly. "Reeseeeeee." She shoulders me and I shoulder her back.

"I don't have to do anything you tell me, Gia."

She gives me a look and states, "But you will though," and I can't exactly disagree with something that's one hundred percent true.

"Not now, anyway," I correct her, letting my feet drag. I almost trip on the pavement.

Gia snorts. "Slow down, dude."

I glance at our current location. "You slow down, it's your stop."

"Oh!" Gia looks at her house and turns back, jumping to give me a quick hug. "See ya!" She starts running up her driveway. "Tell Daniel!"

"Not a chance!" I yell back.

I think about this as I slow down my steps and take my time walking down the road. I have a good half hour ahead of me – it could be fifteen if I actually tried – but I want to try to figure some things out.

No one is giving me a break. I'm bending over backward trying to keep my dad in the dark, which really shouldn't be that hard as he's naturally oblivious. And Erin just made fun of me. It's just better for everyone if I was never a Shark, but I can't go back in time. Kanays don't work that way. I furrow my eyebrows as I come to the conclusion that witches can't either. I think. Maybe? I don't know.

Everyone should just forget I was ever a Shark. Simple solution, right? Except, I can't do that. Kanays can't brain freeze that far back; and besides, Seth would remember.

Then again . . . I think I know someone who can do that for me.

* * *

 **Ahah, who do you think he has in mind? What do you think of Reese so far? Can you see the Daniel in him yet? (If douchey came to mind, you just wait, alright. XD)**

 **Now for some info!**

* * *

 **NAME: Reese Miller**

 **BIRTHDAY: February 17**

 **AGE: 16**

 **EYES: hazel**

 **HAIR: dark brown**

 **HEIGHT: 5'6**

 **He aspires to be a Panther - not even a special Proxy, a PANTHER.**

 **He has to tell Daniel that he quit being a Shark last year, as he's been using Mia's makeup to make himself appear sick at every meet.**

 **He doesn't really care about being a Kanay, but he's not against it either.**

* * *

 **Alright. I really want to ask you guys who you ship, who's your favorite character, who's the funniest, and all that jazz. Unfortunately, you don't have my mind and know everything about these kids yet, so you most likely won't be able to answer them. If you can though, by all means, tell me! I'm interested. :P**


	3. Heartache at its Finest

**Happy Fourth of July, Americans! x3**

 **So last chapter, I felt a bit uncomfortable writing in Reese's POV simply because he's the opposite gender and I had to work everything into his brain in a boyish manner. I'm not sure how that turned out, but I'm glad I got to write in a girl's POV again this chapter. Phew! Next will be a girl too.**

* * *

 **AUTUMN'S POV**

"Seriously, you can get a ride with me if you want," Nevaeh offers, watching as I pace back and forth on the front steps of our high school.

I shake my head. "My dad would get worried if he came to get me and I was nowhere to be found."

She furrows her eyebrows, looking down. "I thought Kanays were supposed to be cool and collected."

Another shake. "Nevy, it's not like there's a handbook. Besides, my dad would _definitely_ be an exception if there was one."

I should have just ridden with Erin. She lives closer, and she's my cousin. I'd hate for Sophie to drive all the way to my house just to drop me off.

But seriously, where is Dad? He picks me up every day after school except most Fridays, and today's Wednesday. I glance at my backpack. Fifteen minutes ago I set it against the railing. Sighing, I hold out one hand to blow the phone my way. No messages.

I turn to see Nevaeh gathering up her belongings. I try to smile. "Have to go?"

She nods, frowning. "Yeah. My mom wants me home so we can let my grandparents loose in the house for the first time." Her grandparents on her dad's side are lizards. He is a lizard-turned-human, after all.

I chuckle. "I bet your dad's really excited."

Nevaeh breaks out into a grin. "He is. And Mom's even been talking about pulling a few strings with Emma to see if we can get him to talk."

I cross my middle fingers over my index fingers and give her an encouraging smile. "Fingers crossed it works!"

"Thanks." She grabs the top handle of her backpack and gives me a hug before tossing it over her shoulder and walking around to the school parking lot. Even though I didn't want to bother Sophie, she still had to wait nearly a half hour for her daughter to get to her car because of me.

My eyes cut to my phone once again, greeted with the same response. I groan, tapping the side of my phone case and look up at the sky. "Where are you, Dad?" I ask myself.

He can't be hurt, can he? He's a Kanay! He and Mom made an evil council member go away before! He'd know what to do. I mean, he nearly burned Mia when he was trying to protect Mom. It's not like he's incapable of being dangerous.

But that thought's equally scary, because when my dad is dangerous, it usually means he managed to work up a fireball, but it's going to singe my mom's clothes. He's not as controlled as he should be…

I hear the huge double doors open behind me. "Oh, hi Autumn."

I look back to see none other than Caitlin Novoa! I scream and rush towards her, practically bowling her over.

"CAITILIN!" I grab her and shake her as I continue yelling. "I didn't know you were back, I just thought you were still in Australia, but oh my gosh, you're here!"

She frantically tries to pry me off of her body. "Yes, I'm here!" She's giggling. "I came back yesterday!"

I pull back and stare at her. "You came back yesterday and didn't let me know?"

She straightens out her blue cardigan (part of her uniform) and shrugs. "My grandpa made an announcement over the intercom. Didn't you hear?"

"I don't know. When was it?"

"Morning."

I immediately say, "Well that explains it. I was OUT. Like, seriously OUT."

Caitlin laughs. "Oh my gosh, I was SO tired, it wasn't even funny. I almost crashed through my door when I got home."

I shut my eyes and let a few laughs escape. "How do you even–"

"Caitlin."

My eyelids fly open as we both turn to face the road, where Dustin is casually lounging in the driver's seat of a white Lexus. I whistle, the corners of my mouth turning up. "Nice, Big Bro."

He grins, making a pair of sunglasses appear on his face. His fingertips tap on the side of the car as he glances around. "Thanks, Little Sis."

Caitlin scoffs, but I'm not sure if it's at our nicknames or just her brother in general. "Dustin," she starts, descending the stairs. I follow suit. "Isn't that the car Dad gave Mom for her birthday last year?"

Dustin smirks and lowers the sunglasses down the bridge of his nose. "Maybe."

I smile. "You're so cool you're driving your mom's car." I scoop up my bag and lean against the bottom of the rail. "That's pretty hot, Dustin."

Caitlin laughs but he just glares, waiting for his sister to climb in the passenger seat. "Keep laughing, Cait, and you'll be rideless just like Autumn here."

I roll my eyes and cross my arms. "I'm waiting for my dad. And anyway, I could just tele-transport home."

Caitlin shuts the Lexis' door and turns to him. "Yeah, why'd you bring the car?"

Dustin sheepishly grins, putting the car into drive. "I kinda, um…" He makes a motion with his hand and all I can do is smile.

She groans. "Dustin, Mom could've _needed_ the car!"

"Hey, she has other means of transportation!"

I tilt my head and ask, "Wouldn't she just go to the pool?"

Caitlin motions towards me with a _'see?'_ look on her face. "That's what I mean!"

Dustin's grumbles are barely audible as he starts to drive away, but I manage to make out, "You can never please women."

I'm laughing quietly to myself, eyes trailing to the ground when someone speaks my name. I look up and – oh, thank God – it's Dad. I let out a long breath and speed walk to him down the sidewalk.

"All ready, Autumn?" His eyes smile but his face shows an entirely different thing.

"Is everything okay?" I ask, speeding up even more.

Dad places a protective hand on my back and steers me towards the car. "Sort of. Well, not really."

I feel my pulse accelerate and my breath hitches for a moment. "I-Is it Mom?"

"Yes." We reach the car, and he sends me over to the other side of it. I hurriedly jump in and shakily buckle my seatbelt, waiting for him to elaborate. Dad buckles his own seatbelt, puts the key in ignition and a hand on the steering wheel, finally looking me in the eyes. "It's your mother…and your grandmother. They're cooking _dinner_ tonight. _Without_ magic."

* * *

After listening to Dad worrying about them cooking AGAIN – as apparently Grandma Ursula made something earlier and they had a little… _mishap_ ; he lost his phone because of that – I didn't really feel like sticking around to watch the disaster go down. I'd hear the smoke alarm in time, since Dad would be screaming 'Grand Ol' Flag' at the top of his lungs.

I hightail through the front door and up the stairs to my bedroom. I toss my bag to one side and kick off my sandals towards my closet. Even though I'm a full two feet from my bed, I hold up my hand and tele-transport over to it, sitting Indian style. I straighten myself out and lay on back, staring at the ceiling.

I have dozens of sheets of homework to do, but all I feel like doing at the moment is magic. I slowly twirl my finger, just thinking. If I'm logical, my whole future depends on my schoolwork. I _should_ be focusing on it. Then again, I'll have magic my whole life. I was born a Kanay-witch, and that's something that won't ever change. I want to get high up in the magic realm. Mom was recognized after she helped Emma, Jax, and Mia out of the video game in high school (with Hex's help, of course). That means that there's a real possibility that I could become more than just a hybrid.

That brings something to my attention. I have both witch magic and Kanay magic…so why haven't I tried them together? I look at my hands and ponder this. Maybe it's not even possible – I need both my hands for half of the Kanay magic I do – but if I tried Kanay magic first and did a spell directly afterward while one hand is still sending out the Kanay magic, would that work?

I'm super curious. I hold my left hand out and start blowing air up at my ceiling while I recite a simple spell in my head, starting to twirl my right index finger when I hear the smoke alarm go off. Jumping off my bed, I tele-transport downstairs to see Dad flooding water out our kitchen window directly above the stove, shattering it. With one glance, I can tell that Mom and Grandma Ursula failed at their attempt to cook like humans.

Grandma is yelling. "Diego! We were going to eat that! My Maddie-winky and I made it, you Kanay!" she grumbles, trying to push Dad away from the window.

Dad keeps the current of water rushing out the window, but turns to his mother-in-law. "Mrs. Van Pelt, it was on FIRE!"

Grandma flails her hands around. "Don't you Kanays use fireballs all the time anyway?"

I suck in a breath and get closer to the three 'adults' in my house. "Not like that, Grandma," I answer, a disturbed expression coming over my face.

Mom slams a fist onto the island, scowling. "I can't even cook a simple casserole. Ugh!"

Dad tilts his head back to see his wife. "Madds, maybe you can ask Katie for cooking lessons."

She's still grumbling, but her facial features soften. "She'll have to do. I don't think Emma knows anything other than scrapbooking, and Mia would destroy anything I manage to make."

I cringe. "You should probably ask her soon, Mom. Especially if you get in another cooking mood."

Mom glares at me. "I don't know what came over me, Autumn. Don't you start."

Dad stops pushing water and hurries to slam the window shut. Leaning against the sink, he turns to face all of us. "So what's to eat tonight now?"

Grandma looks annoyed, but she points to the dining table and immediately a gourmet meal appears.

That jumpstarts my appetite. "Ooh, so we're eating gourmet again?" My face lights up as I bounce over to take my seat.

"Apparently so," Mom mumbles, slowly making her way over. I don't wait and dig in, despite the awkward atmosphere.

* * *

Dinner comes to an end, and even though I don't want to, I haul myself out of my chair after handing plates to Mom to load the dishwasher with, and go to the computer that serves as a divider. Dad, who's calling his friends, and Grandma Ursula, who's watching a fashion show on TV, can see me from the living room, and I can see into the kitchen and down the hallway (leading to my parents' room, Mom's closet, and a bathroom) from my position.

I log onto my account and open up the internet, tapping my fingers on the desk while I wait for it to load. Katie (or _Ms. Rice_ ) gave my afternoon period homework. I'm fairly certain her afternoon classes are for the dumber students, which offends me. I have two constant feelings in her class: one, I need to do the best I can twenty-four-seven to get switched to a morning class, and two, I can't care less about English.

I'm actually not sure what I'm supposed to research. I know I have to write a five page essay throughout this week, and today's just a research day. But what was class even about? Maybe I should've paid attention. English is right after lunch for me, and Reese yelled at me. Whenever someone yells at me it makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. I must've zoned out in class because of his outburst. Great.

I'm contemplating whether to text Amanda, the girl who sits in front of me in class, or try to find my English notes. Although, if I don't remember anything about seventh period, the chances of me taking any notes are slim to nothing. I register that the doorbell rings as I tuck my feet underneath my body, trying to get into a more comfortable position in the chair. I should just steal one of the couches in Mom's closet for this.

I fish my phone out my back pocket and am scrolling through my contacts. I forgot what I put Amanda in as, too. Today is just not my day.

As I began typing in the first few digits of her number to search through my contacts, someone clears their throat from behind me. I swivel the chair around and look up at my mom, setting my phone down on my legs.

Mom has an unreadable expression on her face, but her grin is evident as she motions in the front door's direction. I can't see into the foyer, so I just follow her gaze and wait for her to speak. "There's, uh, someone here to see you," Mom tells me, nodding her head.

I slit my eyes and look at her. "Who is it?"

She puts out her hands and shrugs. "A suitor, I suppose."

I almost laugh. Right, right. Like _I_ have a suitor waiting for me on my doorstep. "What aren't you telling me?" I ask, wanting to get more out of her. For whatever reason, she doesn't want me to know who's at the door, and that gives me the impression I won't want to talk to them.

"Why don't you just go see?" Mom answers my question with a question, grabbing my phone out of my lap and giving me a look. "Go." With that, she's gone down the hall.

I groan, but push myself up off the chair and feel it slide back. As I walk through the foyer, I hear some mumbles, and I nearly fall over a lone heel. That's Reese's voice.

 _Why would he come to my house?_

I regain my balance and make my way to the door slowly. Sure enough, there's Reese Miller. Holding a handful of roses.

I think I'm going to puke.

"Hey?" I say, ending up making it sound like a question. My stomach's flipping over so violently I think it could actually force me to my knees.

Reese mutters into the phone he's holding, "Shut it," and ends the call, shoving it back into his pocket. He smiles at me, but after knowing him for sixteen years I can tell it's partially forced. "Hey," he reciprocates.

I'm suddenly very aware of our height difference, and let me tell you: two inches has never felt so enormous. I try to stand normally and not look uncomfortable, even though my neighbor five houses down can probably tell that. Forcing myself to look anywhere but the roses, I say, "So what's up?"

Reese shifts his feet and casually sticks his free hand in his back pocket. "I wanted to apologize for earlier today."

My tiny smile falls as I stare at him. Not at all what I was expecting. I blink a few times and lean forward as I say, "You what?"

He just nods, not seeming intimidated by the awkward tension. "I didn't mean to blow up at you like that. I've just had a lot on my mind lately."

I put my hands out and start disagreeing. "No, no need to be sorry. It was completely fine." It really wasn't, but I want to get out of this conversation as quickly as possible.

Reese shakes his head. "No, I was out of line." He takes this moment to thrust the roses into my hands, pricking me in the process. I blink furiously to try to stop the tears from coming. "These are for you."

I try to smile, but my nerves and the seething pain work against me. I look up helplessly at him. "Why'd you get me flowers?" I catch what I said. "I-I mean, it's not that I don't appreciate it, I just don't understa–"

He chuckles, casually resting a hand on the doorframe. "No, I get what you mean. Well, I thought if I gave you flowers you'd have to forgive me faster."

It's a sweet, yet painful, sentiment. I'll forgive people fairly quickly if they're truly sorry, but him giving me roses…just wow. I resist the urge to shove my nose into them.

He awkwardly shifts his weight and removes his hand, adding, _"And_ …I was kind hoping you'd help me with something."

Resisting smelling the roses suddenly becomes a lot less challenging. "So…you want a favor?" I ask, figuring out his motives relatively quickly. He just wants me to do something for him. That's why he gave me the roses.

He sheepishly grins. "Yeah. So, you know how you wanted me to tell my dad about the Sharks?" He looks around me into my house, making sure my parents aren't lurking around.

What does this have to do with me? If he thinks I'm going to tell Daniel for him, he's so far off. "Yeah."

"Well, I thought of a better idea."

I nearly scoff. The amount of deceit in my friends' lives amazes me sometimes. "And what's that?" I tilt my head, putting a mocking tone in my voice, but not so much that he'll catch on.

"You could erase their memories."

My jaw literally drops. "Erase _what?"_ My hand holding the roses drops to my side.

Reese shrugs. "Not everyone. Just the people that remember I was a Shark last year." He rushes to give an example. "Like my great grandma! She may fund for a lot of my education, but she has no recollection of last Tuesday."

I shake my head. "No, Reese, that's not the point! I can't just," I laugh without humor, "take away people's memories."

"Why not? Just erase my being on the swim team and nothing else. I'm not asking you to erase an entire year," he chuckles.

"Yes, you are!" I smack my leg, feeling the thorns prick me again. _Damn it!_ "Magic doesn't work that way! Why can't you just erase their memories? You're a Kanay, after all."

"I can't go that far back, Autumn! You should know, being half-Kanay yourself." He crosses his arms. "Why can't you just do this for me?"

"Oh, I'm _so sorry_ that I don't feel comfortable deceiving people as much as you are."

"You've got to be kidding me–"

"Nearly everyone knew you were on the swim team! I can't erase so many memories, anyway!" I look up at the sky and try to calm down. "You have to understand that what you're asking is completely irresponsible and practically impossible."

"It's not impossible. It's not even that big of a dea–"

"Oh, so if it's not a big deal then why do you care so much?" I ask, giving him a look. I know exactly what he's doing. "Stop manipulating me, Reese, and think about someone other than yourself for one second–"

He puts his arms out. "I'm not manipulating you! How can you even think that?"

"This!" I throw the roses at his chest, hoping the thorns give him as much pain in one single hit as they've hurt me this visit. "You don't actually care about yelling at me earlier, much less right now!" I stare at him hard, trying to search for a sign of guilt. "You don't care at all, Reese. You just want me to do your bidding for you."

His voice is low. "Could you just listen for one moment as to why I don't want to tell my dad–"

"No!" I exclaim, cutting him off yet again. "There's no reason! You started this whole thing yourself when you told him you were on the swim team again this year–"

"Oh, no I did not TELL him that, Autumn. He just assumed!"

I cock my hip and keep my gaze locked on him. "Why didn't you correct him, then?"

He stumbles for a second. "Well I-I just didn't feel like it, okay? Why don't you just get that through your head and do this small favor for me–"

"Why don't you get this in _your_ head? No."

"What?"

I shake my head. "If this 'isn't a big deal'," I mimic his voice, making air quotes, "then get someone else to do it. I'm out."

He looks at me pointedly. "You can't just be out, Autumn. I came to you because I thought you would do this for me–"

"Maybe you should leave."

He scoffs, turning away. "Unbelievable." He looks back at me and throws up his hands. "Fine. I'll go."

He starts down the steps when my eyes gravitate down to the scattered flowers on my porch. "You left the–"

"Keep them."

I watch as he leaves my driveway, and then I gather up the flowers and slip back inside.

"I better get going," a voice wafts into the foyer. I panic and point at the flowers, sending them up to my room. I must look pretty shifty, because when Grandma Ursula comes through carrying her big purse, she gives me a funny look. "Everything alright, Autumn?" she asks, arching an eyebrow at me.

I force a laugh. "Yeah, everything's fine."

She doesn't look convinced but lets it slip. "Okay. Well I'm going. Give me a hug."

I hug her tight, trying to focus on her and not what just happened a few moments ago.

* * *

Before I go to bed that night, I cast a spell and a small vase appears in my cupped hands.

I exhale slowly, trying to keep it together. Fighting is not something that puts me at ease; not that it should, anyway.

I pick each rose up off my floor and carefully place them in the vase, counting. Seven.

I don't get pricked, but I just can't hold everything. I feel tears start to stream down my cheeks, and I set down the vase by my window. I collapse onto my bed and curl into a ball, letting myself cry.

I didn't think I was being that loud, but Dad walks through the hall and stops at my door. "Sweetie?" Through my blurred eyes I can tell that his face is twisted, like seeing his daughter cry makes he himself want to.

"Daddy," I whisper, sitting up. He comes over and sits down beside me, and puts his arms around me. I choke on sobs, crying all over his shirt.

"Autumn," he says after some time, noticing my flowers. "…cast a spell to open the window."

I hesitate, but he just pats my back and I do as I was told. His arms lift up from my back for a moment, and within seconds, I hear the vase break on the ground two stories below.

* * *

 **If you don't think that Diego will be, like, the BEST dad ever, then who are you? (Unless you're thinking about Jax; close second in my mind :P) Anyways, do you see what I mean about douchey Reese? Mhm. He's just a wee bit self-centered at the moment, but whose son is he? Oh yeah. XD (Check out lovethatignites avi as of 7.4.15)  
**

* * *

 **NAME: Autumn Serena Rueda**

 **NICKNAME: Miss Priss (Reese) Little Sis (Dustin) A (Erin)**

 **BIRTHDAY: July 7**

 **AGE: 16**

 **EYES: brown**

 **HAIR: medium-length light dirty blonde**

 **HEIGHT: 5'4 (5'6-7 in heels)**

 **While Erin and Nevaeh are close friends, Caitlin and her have a special connection.**

 **She and Dustin act like siblings, but some mistake this as more than a friendship.**

 **Maddie and Diego honeymooned in Ecuador.**

* * *

 **Don't have anything else to say at this moment, so make sure to tell me your thoughts! x3**


	4. Should've Skipped

**Sorry for the long wait. I didn't feel like writing because of the new episodes, but this is the last week, and I'm running out of excuses to procrastinate. :/ XD Also, the next chapter isn't done...my system's already screwed...oops.  
**

* * *

 **GIA'S POV**

Thursday morning I find myself at my kitchen table shoveling cereal into my face with a spoon.

Mom walks out of her bedroom buttoning her jean vest and making a face at me.

I stop for a moment, looking up at my mom. "Yeah?" I ask, a smile on my face as some milk dribbles down my chin.

She shakes her head, her face still contorted. "You're a mess. At least you're using a spoon, though." She glances up at the ceiling, pondering something. "I wonder if Sophie is…hm."

As she goes over to the fridge behind me I continue eating. I want to get to school early so Caitlin and I can go over the plan for tonight. Every other Thursday our 'group' likes to hangout, and this will mark the first one since Caitlin's arrival back home. She's handling everything really well, but if I was her and Dad and I had to lock my grandpa in a magical prison, I wouldn't be in such great shape.

Mom pulls out the chair across from me and settles into it with a bowl and a spoon. She reaches over and grabs the cereal, starting to pour it in.

"So what are you doing today, Mom?" I question with my mouth sort of full.

Mom motions for me to slide the jug of milk over to her and I give it a firm shove. "Well," she starts, carefully pouring in the milk. "Emma wanted to go shopping, but I didn't care for that, so Mia is coming with me to a car show."

I nod. "Cool," I manage, swallowing. "Cool," I repeat more clearly, smiling.

Dad rushes into the room, stubbing his toe on Mom's chair and muttering a cuss word as he stumbles over it.

"Babe," Mom says, spoon in hand. She turns around in her chair to look at her husband. "You okay? You're never this anxious."

Dad tears open the fridge and he's kind of scaring me. "Dad...are you alright?" I ask, setting down my silverware.

Dad grumbles to himself as he rummages through a cupboard above the sink. "Sure, sweetie. Sure."

Mom scoffs, dropping her spoon into the bowl. Milk splatters around it. "Just because Diego's on your case doesn't mean you have to act like this, Phillip."

I furrow my eyebrows. "On his case about what?"

Mom turns to me. "He wants your dad to work at The 7 with him."

I shrug and start to eat again. "I don't see what's wrong about that."

"That's exactly it," Dad says, pointing at me with the silvery PopTart packet. "There's nothing wrong with it, but if I want to work at Pizza Hut then I will, damn it!"

I raise an eyebrow at him and ask Mom, "Did he have coffee last night?"

Dad throws his arms up. "I'm off to work!"

Mom laughs and takes a stand to put her bowl away. "How long do you think the group will be out tonight?" she asks, and I hear plates clanking behind me.

"No idea," I answer, swallowing the last of my cereal. "I'm really excited, though. It's Caitlin's first hangout since she came back from Australia, and I want to try to make her feel better about things."

Mom takes me bowl from me and dumps the milk down the drain. _"That's_ why I'm thinking you'll be out late." She smiles at me over my shoulder. "How's Caitlin taking it all?"

I grab my bag off of the back of my chair and sling it over my shoulder. "She seems okay, but I don't know. Is Uncle Jax okay?"

Andi snorts. "I haven't talked to him in awhile, so I wouldn't know. I'll ask Emma."

I shake my head. "Okay then." Starting for the back door I call out, "See ya!"

"Bye kiddo!"

And I'm out and down the street, running for the school. I hope Cait remembered to get her butt up early today.

* * *

Right before first period, I'm trying to gather up all my books, using a mental checklist so I don't forget something. Slightly down the hall I notice Caitlin at her locker. Her last name being Novoa and mine being Van Pelt, we're not right beside each other, but there happens to be very few students with last names in between ours.

"C!" I call, smiling as she locates me.

"G!" she mimics, sending me a lopsided grin. "So what's the plan for tonight?"

I push my math book to one side of the shelf in my locker and respond. "Well, I wanna do a lot since it's your first hangout after getting back," I smile, "so we're definitely going to the movies, bowling, dinner, annnnd…" I trail off, unsure of who's listening.

Caitlin gets what I mean, pinching her nose to imitate a snorkel. "This?" She sounds slightly nasal.

I laugh. "Yes, that."

"I gotta admit," she starts, fishing some pantyhose out of her bag with a quizzical look, making me giggle. "I'm really excited."

"You should be! This hangout is in honor of our little Caitlin coming back home," I tease, using my baby voice that I talk to pets in.

She playfully rolls her eyes. "I'm so honored."

"Honored to be in my presence?" Dustin guesses as he makes his way over to his locker beside Caitlin's, which just so happens to divide us.

Caitlin makes a noise and points a finger down her throat.

"Wrong," I translate, although it wasn't necessary. I have two books and three notebooks along with my pencil case piled up in my arms, and that's all I need for the morning. I close my locker and saunter over to Dustin, intrigued. "Is that _lip gloss_ on you, Dustin?" He holds his head high and continues to rummage through his locker, but my grin just keeps growing. "From Nevaeh, I presume?"

Caitlin whistles at her brother and nudges him with her elbow. "Aye, Dustin's lady friend gave him a treat."

"I'm not a dog, alright?" he says, but he can't hide his huge smile. Nevaeh puts him in such a good mood it's insane.

"I bet she begs to differ," I disagree, shaking my head and leaning against the locker next to him.

He rolls his eyes and takes a bunch of his school supplies out of his locker and shuts it. Right before he heads to his first class, he turns around like he forgot something. "Oh, and I can't make it tonight."

Caitlin slams her locker shut and walks up to him. "Oh, you've GOT to be kidding me! Don't you want to hang out with your sister?"

He pretends to think for a moment. "Well, um, I live with you, Caity. I'll see you soon enough."

She scoffs as he leaves us. "I can't believe him," she tells me.

I can tell that she's truly upset, but she _will_ see him at home. I shake my hand and say, "Hey, think of it this way: one less person to worry about when we…" I pinch my own nose and make a gargling sound.

She laughs. "Okay, good point."

"I know," I smile, putting my hand down. "Let's get to our classes."

We start off the same way, and I get a compliment. "You slay, Gianna."

I smile. "Why thank you."

* * *

"I gotta tell you something," Erin warns me as I make my way to the desk behind her.

It's study hall for both of us, and I sit right behind her. I set my books down and slide into my seat as she spins around in hers to face me. "What's up?" I ask, tapping my pencil against a notebook.

She leans on the top part of her chair and says, "My mom got a new scoop to check out."

A smile spreads across my face. "That's great! She'll have to leave you alone now!"

Erin tilts her head. "Ehhh…"

My smile drops. "What?"

She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and says, "She's dragging Dad and me along as a _family_ to check it out."

I suck in a breath. "Ayee. That's arrogant."

Erin shrugs. "She does these things a lot, so it doesn't really affect me that much anymore. The reason I told you is she's taking us along _tonight._ "

I shut my eyes and groan. "You're kidding."

"Nope."

I open my eyes as she turns around. I lean over my desk so she can hear me, giving whoever's behind me a view up my skirt. Oops. "Can't Autumn help you get out of it like she does for vlogging?" I ask in a whisper, even though with my skirt up no one would be paying attention to what I'm saying.

Erin shakes her head, turning to face me. "I can't risk it. She noticed I act a bit strange while vlogging most of the time, but in real life I think she'd pick up on it more. She's tried to investigate _things_ before, Gia, and she'll do it again."

I make a noise in the back of my throat and slump down in my seat, making a mental note to wear the uniform pants tomorrow instead. "Alright. Stay away from your mom as much as you can."

She chuckles as our teacher comes in and the bell rings, signaling the beginning of study hall. "Trust me, I've been planning things out. Even for the car ride."

I smile and shake my head, starting to open my notebook. I have a math test I need to study for, and even if she and Dustin won't be able to make it, our group hangout will still be a reunion for Cait.

* * *

"So what movie do you want to see tonight?" I breathe, slowly walking down the road with Reese by my side.

He awkwardly coughs and looks away. "Uh, I don't really care. It's not really my place to say."

I furrow my eyebrows and hoist my bag's strap higher up my shoulder. "What are you talking about? I'd rather have you like the movie while everyone else hates it, than you hating it and annoying me throughout the whole thing," I joke, tilting my head at the boy.

He chuckles, but I can tell it's forced.

Groaning, I ask, "Okay, what?" I put my arm out and stop him from walking any further. We're so close to my house I can see inside my living room window.

Reese awkwardly scratches the back of his neck. "Well, I'm not really going to be _watching_ the movie, anyway…"

I groan, and we start walking again. "Please tell me you did not find some hopeless girl on the streets and asked her out again, because I swear–"

"No, no," he cuts me, giving me a look as if I should know better. But if he did it once, he can do it again. "No, I'm just not _coming_ , per say."

I scoff. "Are you _kidding_ me?! Dustin and Erin already bailed, and now you are, too?"

He rolls his head around and moans. "Look, I don't _want_ to, but I have to, okay? Can we leave it at that?"

"That depends." I turn to face him, crossing my arms. "Why do you 'have' to miss?"

He fumbles for words, and that's enough for me to yank him by the arm and up my driveway. "You're coming inside."

"No, Gia, I don't want toooo. I gotta get home," he whines, trying to put up a fight. Lucky for him, I have zombie in my blood.

"Oh, so you can avoid telling your dad you quit again? Right," I snort, opening the front door and shoving him through it.

Reese almost trips in the doorway but catches himself. "Alright, valid point, but I really should get home so my mom doesn't get worried and go on a rampa–"

"Oh, don't worry," Mom's voice wafts through the living room to us. We follow it until I see her coming out of her room, putting a feathery earring in. "Your mom's already at the car show waiting for me."

I slowly turn to face Reese and give him a look. He gulps and says, "Oh is she?"

"Nice try," I mutter.

Mom flips her hair back away from her feather and asks, "So what's with the mini-string bean?"

If Reese is offended by this, he doesn't show it. He just looks frightened. "He's skipping out on group night," I announce, sending him a glare. "And he won't tell me why."

"Hm." Mom thinks this over for a second, then asks, "Gia, you know where my chainsaw is, right?"

"Bye!" Reese body slams the front door and goes tripping down the street in a full-out sprint. Upon further inspection, he broke our lock.

Mom groans. "I'll get Emma to fix that. Don't need Daniel stooping in here to complain about his son."

I make a noise and start for my room. Three gone; six left.

* * *

Later that evening around four thirty, Caitlin, Seth, Buck, and I are waiting outside the AMC Sunset Place 24 movie theatre, slumped against the building. It's super hot today, and with the building radiating the heat onto us, it's all I can do not to rip off my shirt and call it a day.

Seth moans. "How much longer 'til the girls show up?" He leans his head back but yanks it upwards after touching the building, almost torching his hair.

Caitlin wipes the back of her hand across her forehead and checks her phone. "It's four forty-five." She lets her head fall onto her shoulder and looks at me. "The movie starts in five minutes."

I put my head in my hands just as Buck starts talking. "Then I guess it's a good thing you didn't bring a date, huh buddy?" So he's talking to Seth. I hear mumbling, then Buck talks again, "Yeah, no one really caught his eye yet, but he's open to anyone."

I lift my head up the slightest bit to give them a weird look, to which Seth hits Buck in the arm.

"Ow…" he mumbles, rubbing his arm.

Caitlin stands up. "Can't we just go in? If Nevaeh and Autumn come, then they can just find us. They know what movie we're going to see."

Seth follows her movement and stands up, stretching. "Yeah. Besides, my hair was nearly written by Suzanne Collins out here." Caitlin cracks a grin at that.

I glance over at Buck to see if he's agreeing with them when my phone sounds. I make a disgruntled noise but fish it out of my back pocket. "It's Autumn!" I exclaim, standing up and motioning for them to huddle around me as I answer it and put it on speaker phone. "Hey Autumn," I say, trying to keep my voice neutral. "Are you on your way to the theatre?"

"Actually, this is her dad," Diego's voice comes through. The guys' starting groaning. Caitlin just moves her hand and casts a spell to mute them for the time being, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, hi Diego!" I correct myself, smiling. I love Diego; he's so funny. "What are you doing on Autumn's phone?"

I think I hear some whispering, but I don't know. "Oh, she got sick and can't come tonight," he explains hurriedly, sounding nervous. "Her voice is almost gone, so she wanted me to call and let you know."

Even though he seems a bit on edge, I would've believed him if Caitlin hadn't leaned in and said, "But I just saw Autumn right before school let out with the Panthers, and she was fine."

Buck leans over me and shoves Caitlin in the shoulder, pointing to his mouth. She shakes her head, mouthing, 'No.'

"Um… _well_ …"

"Dad!" Autumn's voice rings through the phone.

"I thought you said that she lost her voice," I say in a condescending tone.

"S-she did! When she was…five…" Diego sounds more panicked, and within a matter of seconds, I'm hearing the dial tone.

Caitlin lets out a single laugh in a disbelieving manner. "He did not just hang up. He's an adult!"

Seth makes a few noises that sound unnerved, throwing his hands around to try to express his annoyance.

I shut my phone off and put it back into my pocket. "Whatever. Autumn's blowing us off, so that makes four."

Caitlin drops her hands and they make a loud sound once they hit her thighs. She turns to face me and says, "Wanna bet Nevaeh's with Dustin right about now?"

I groan. Seth takes out his phone and types a new note reading **Unbelievable.**

Grabbing Caitlin's purse off the ground and handing it to her, we head inside the movie theatre. As we start talking to the guy behind the counter, I take a deep breath and glance at each of my friends in turn. "Four tickets, please."

* * *

Buck gets a strike, buffing his nails on his shirt. I try to walk past him to get my bowling ball, but he moves to one side then the other, blocking me.

"Hey, G, good luck. Cuz, you know…" He drops his voice as he leans closer, glancing around. "I'm kinda kicking your ass right now." Unfortunately, with Seth's phone and the boys' puppy dog eyes, Caitlin was persuaded to undo the mute spell.

I shove him away, sending a fake smile towards him. "Great, Buck. Maybe you can get a taste of your own medicine in a back alley some day."

He chuckles, going around me finally and heads for the candy counter. "Yeah, would you be doing that?" _Really_ unfortunate.

I roll my eyes, a slight smile starting to form. "You wish, perv." I pick up my fuchsia-colored bowling ball and find the finger holes, breathing in and out.

"Actually, I don't," Buck calls back. I turn to look at him for a moment and see a sight I totally wasn't prepared for.

Seth and Caitlin.

Flirting.

"Oh my gosh," I mutter, swinging around.

Buck buys a candy bar and grabs it off the counter, sucking in a breath and holding a hand to his mouth. "G, you almost took that guy's head off."

I furrow my eyebrows at them – they're off in their own little world! Giggling, grinning, leaning closer…I'm pretty sure they forgot they're bowling.

"You alright, G?"

I avert my eyes and look at Buck, who moved closer to inspect me. I blink a few times, and with a slight shake of the head convince him otherwise. "Yeah, of course. I just zoned out while thinking how I'm gonna whoop your sorry ass at this game."

He grins, unwrapping the candy bar in his hands. "Yeah, I don't really see that happening." Taking a bite, he motions to the lanes. "But if you want to see your little dream crushed you should probably actually bowl, G."

I roll my eyes and turn around again, walking up to the line. I got too distracted and now Buck might win.

 _Nah_ , I tell myself, locking my eyes onto the pins straight ahead of me. _You're calling this too early._ I move the ball through the air a few times, then extend my arms and let it roll, closing my eyes on instinct. A few seconds later . . . I hear Buck laughing.

 _Alright, maybe you didn't._

* * *

"Seriously, you were so _bad!"_

I'd roll my eyes for probably the billionth time, but I'm sitting next to Seth who's across from Caitlin, and they're both playing footsie under the table. Caitlin accidentally kicked me, like, five times. Good thing I have Andi Cruz and a zombie-turned-human as my parents, so it didn't hurt.

"Thanks, Bucky. You're a real sweetheart," I mumble, stabbing my fork into a piece of meat. I glance back up at Caitlin (as if she's actually look at me this time) and guess what she's doing? Grinning like an idiot. Oh, and there's another kick. I try not to cringe at how incredibly awkward and bizarre I feel.

"I mean, before we started," Buck takes a loud slurp of his coke and points at me as he sets his drink down, "I thought you might give me a run for my money, but then you just got WORSE!"

"Yeah, yeah," I mumble, staring intently at Caitlin who's ignoring everything but the guy across from her. "Keep bragging your pretty little head off."

I feel a shoe graze my leg and in the next instant Seth is nearly dragged underneath the table. Buck looks over at Caitlin and makes a face. "What are you guys doing?" His face and voice reads disturbed.

Alright. I drop my fork onto its plate and kick Buck in the shin.

"Ow!" he yells, glaring as he bends over to rub his knee under the table.

"Buck, do you wanna walk with me for a second?" I ask, nodding towards the soda refills.

"Not really!" he groans, laying his face flat on the table.

"Great!" I slide out of my side of the booth and yank him to his feet. Shoving him away with minimal glances back at Caitlin and Seth, we make it to the drinks. I whip my hair back and stare at him. "Why are Seth and Caitlin flirting?"

Buck straightens up. His knee must be feeling better. "They're flirting?" He starts to turn his head but I panic and almost jump on him trying to turn him back.

"No, no! Don't look at them!" I hiss, grabbing his face and forcing him to look at me.

"Then what am I supposed to–oh for the love of God!" He rips my hands off of his face and places them at my sides. "G, you're freaking out over _nothing_. They're not flirting!" He shoots a quick glance over at them to confirm his statement. "Yeah, they're not."

"Buck, they're acting all cutesy and giggling, and _they're acting like my parents_ ," I admit, leaning forward. "It's scaring me."

He rolls his eyes. "You scare me."

I whack him in the arm. "Dude–"

"It's the first time they've seen each other in three months. They're just hanging out, G. Calm. Down."

I let out a breathe and nod. "You're right."

"I know I am."

We begin walking back. "Nothing's going on."

He snorts. "Besides, who would care if they were flirting? It's not a big deal."

"Says you…" I stop and he stops with me.

"What?" Buck arches an eyebrow down at me.

I move my tongue to the side of my mouth and start grinning. "Ha. Yeah, you know, I realize now that you didn't really tell _both_ of us Seth's single, did you?"

He shifts his weight. "What are you talking about?"

I look up at him and cross my arms. "You're Seth's wingman, aren't you?"

His eyes flit around the room uncomfortably. "G, what are you rambling on abo–"

"Seth likes Cait, doesn't he?"

Buck finally locks eyes with me. "Uh…You see–" Having no real answer, he sprints over to the table, leaving me pissed off.

* * *

"Over the fence?"

"Over the fence," Buck nods, jogging the short distance to the fence keeping us from IHS' pool. I shrug and follow, hooking a foot in one of the holes to anchor myself.

"Uh, Gia?" Caitlin whispers to me, holding me back from climbing.

"Yeah?" I ask quietly. I really look at her face, and it's slightly nervous. "What's wrong?" I ask, hopping down from the fence.

"My parents don't know we're breaking into Iridium's pool," she starts out.

I give her a look, my eyebrows drawing up. "You're acting like ours _do_."

"No, I know they don't," she dismisses her mistake with a flick of the wrist. "I just…I don't really feel comfortable being in my bra and panties in front of them, and I don't want to get my clothes wet, because I don't exactly have the dry spell down…"

I tilt my head. "By 'down' do you mean like your mom and tele-transporting?"

She moves her hands up in down. "Ehh, sort of." She gives me a tiny smile. "But do you think there could be any swimsuit in the locker room?"

"Can't you just use magic for that?"

"Well yeah, but I don't want to use it _all_ the time. Plus your mom's gonna be my Guardian soon, and she'll be checking my spell use."

"Didn't your dad have to go through that after he…" I trail off, unsure how to say it so it's not insulting. "He, uh…"

 _"Yeah._ And _that's_ why his children have to be monitored, too."

I furrow my eyebrows. "Wait, does Dustin even have a Guardian?"

She rolls her eyes. "Nope. He got out of it by pointing out that all previous Chosen Ones have been girls and therefore, he doesn't need to be observed."

I nod my head mockingly. "Uh-huh. So basically, he said that so no one interrupts him making out with Nevaeh."

"Preeeetty much."

"Of course." I turn to yell to the boys, "We're going inside!"

Seth has his shirt halfway off and spins too quickly, almost falling into the pool. Buck grabs him by the shoulders and hollers back, "You know, that's breaking and entering!"

"Well in case you need to go to the bathroom, you'll thank us!" I send him a grin, then usher Caitlin around the school.

The chemistry lab's window has been open since I first set foot in this high school, and tonight is no different. I motion to the window. "After you."

Caitlin rolls her eyes. "Thanks." She clambers in and I dive through the window next, injuring myself in the project. "Can you say celebratory?" she jokes, watching me stumble to my feet with one arm wrapped securely around my stomach.

I shove her and we start down one of the main hallways. "Ooh!" I exclaim, ignoring the pain in my stomach and breaking into a run towards my locker. I lift up the latch and open it, taking my math notebook out of it before shutting it again.

"What are you doing?" Caitlin asks me, reaching my locker.

I shake my head. "I forgot my notebook. Come on." We race down the hall and reach the locker room which has no doors. We go through the tiny maze and I find my one-piece. "Is this okay?" I ask, holding it up.

Cait nods. "Yeah, that'll work." I hand it over and wait outside one of the stalls while she changes.

I decide that now would be a good time to ask her some questions about a certain Miller. But I can't be too obvious, or she'll shut down. "Hey, you seemed to be talking to Seth a lot," I start out, immediately wanting to bang my head against a wall. _Subtle._

"Uh-huh," she says slowly, and I hear a zipper.

 _Oh gosh, I feel so damn awkward._ "You know you left me alone with Buck, right?"

She moves and a piece of clothing is dropped to the floor. "Yeah, sorry about that!" She laughs. "Seth was being such an idiot, and I even gave him the nickname 'Sexy Seth'."

I think she went on in more detail, but I was lost. I'm pretty sure that if you call someone sexy, you have to know that you were flirting. You just have to. But apparently, she didn't see it that way. Maybe neither of them did.

I'm taken out of my thoughts when I feel a thump on my back and move away from the door.

"You okay?" Cait asks, giving me a funny look as she comes out wearing my blue swimsuit. Now's probably not the best time to tell her it may or may not have been washed by now. _Let's hope it is and move on._

"Yeah, just zoned out for a second," I say, shaking my head.

She shrugs and lets it go. "Alright. Let's get out there."

I grip my notebook tightly in my hand and nod, following her out of the locker room. "Okay. But remember not to leave me alone with Buck again, Cait."

She chuckles. "I won't."

But as soon as we get out there and see the guys in their boxers, Seth immediately comes over.

"Why are you wearing that?" he asks as Buck trails behind him.

Caitlin smiles. "As opposed to what?"

"Maybe that," Buck answers, pointing at me right before I pull my shirt off and can't see him anymore.

Cait sighs and says, "Well she's interesting."

I shake out my hair and drop my shirt onto the floor, starting to unbutton my pants. "Thank you so much, Cait," I joke, sliding off my jeans. I keep one eye on the guys the whole time, pleased that they're not staring.

Seth cracks his neck and turns to the pool. "So are we gonna get in or–"

"CANNONBALL!" I scream, racing past him and jumping into the air, curling myself into a tight ball just as I hit the water. I move my arms around and swim to the side of the pool I jumped over and come up, wiping my eyes.

Buck's staring down at me with his arms crossed, soaking wet. "Not funny, G."

I smile up at him and lay my arms on the concrete. "I thought it was." I spin myself around and start swimming away from him, kicking water up on him, smiling when I reach the other side.

Seth walks over to Buck as Caitlin lowers herself into the water. "Come on, buddy, just get in. We're gonna play chicken," Seth tempts him, tilting his head.

Buck's eyes light up. "I call Caitlin on my team!" He jumps into the water when Seth protests. Buck whips his hair back and breathes. "This way I can beat G again!" He repositions himself and stares intently at me.

"Awe shit," I mutter, pushing myself to swim away from him as he starts towards me.

* * *

Nearly forty-five minutes later, Buck had captured me and we played chicken, Seth and I against Cait and the idiot. It was an interesting game, and eventually the guys ended up on our shoulders with the help of a spell (not in my case; Seth may be super tall, but he's like, what? Ninety-five pounds?), Seth towering over us all.

We decided to switch so it was boys against girls, and after being up on Seth's shoulders, I felt like I was a midget on Cait's. Ultimately, Buck shoved me over and we climbed out of the pool. Cait made a fire pit appear, Seth made the fire, and then Cait cast a safety spell so it wouldn't go too far.

"I wish the others could've made it," Buck comments, shaking his hair around like a wet dog.

Cait laughs and leans away. "Don't put out the fire, bro," Seth jokes, nudging him.

I ring my hair out and say to Buck, "Wow that was actually somewhat meaningful."

Then he smirks. "They would've been able to see you lose at everything tonight."

I scoff, leaning to shove him over, making him fall back into the pool.

Seth's laughing now too, and when Buck's head lifts up he says, "You should think before you speak, dude."

Cait tilts her head, her face illuminated. "Oh no."

"What?" I turn around and am faced with sirens and Miami PD pulling into the IHS' parking lot.

* * *

 **DUN DUN DUN. Yep. The police. Ayee, this'll go over well. ;)**

 **SkaterGirl: I appreciate your enthusiasm and interest in this story to go so far as create a character, but I'm not really looking for new characters. :/ Sorry, love. x3**

* * *

 **NAME: Gianna Amber Van Pelt**

 **NICKNAME: Gia (everyone) G (Buck)**

 **BIRTHDAY: March 2**

 **AGE: 16**

 **EYES: brown**

 **HAIR: mid-back brunette, dark purple tips**

 **HEIGHT: 5'3**

 **She's part zombie, which is why she has a slightly obsessive love of pizza.**

 **She and Caitlin are best friends, just like their moms.**

 **She has a very strong bond with both her parents, as they all love zombies.**

 **She's a member of the Sharks.**


End file.
